Transvestite Gang Blamed For Rash Of Store Break-ins

A group of transvestites may be responsible for a series of break-ins at women`s clothing stores west of Boca Raton, Palm Beach County sheriff`s deputies say.

``That`s what we are chalking it up to. Whether we are right or not, we don`t know,`` Sheriff`s Lt. Gary Hill said.

Transvestite smash-and-grab burglars pillaged the county`s boutiques in 1988 and 1989 and sporadically since then.

The latest break-in occurred shortly before 6 a.m. on Monday, when a rock was used to smash out a plate-glass window at the Made in France clothing store at 6018 SW 18th St. in Boca Pointe.

An undetermined amount of women`s clothing was taken from that store, which is in the Shoppes at Village Pointe.

In another burglary, a brick was used to smash a glass door at the Jere-Mar Sportswear II at Boca Greens Plaza late Friday.

And last Tuesday, the back door was pried open and $50,000 in clothing was taken from Ultimate Designs in the Polo Club Shoppes off Military Trail.

The incident at Jere-Mar was the second at that store in two weeks, and the co-owner of the store said on Monday she would install bars to stay in business and keep burglars out.

``They took all of my better stuff. There is nothing left. They cleaned out the front of the store,`` Marlene Lymber said.

``It`s disgusting,`` Lymber said. ``(The authorities) have to do something about this. Can`t they stop these people?``

The Boca Raton area is not alone in dealing with thefts of women`s clothing.

On Sunday at 8 a.m. in Delray Beach, a window was smashed and several items of women`s clothing taken from Fashion Du Monde, 1513 S. Congress Ave.

Earlier this month in Broward County, thieves used a concrete slab to smash the window of Numbers, a boutique on East Commercial Boulevard, making off with $25,000 in silk and leather clothing.

Two days before that, two men walked in and stole almost $5,000 in women`s clothing from Lord & Taylor at the Town Center mall near Boca Raton.

In the Town Center theft, the men went to the clothing racks while the store was open, removed eight to 10 women`s suits, size 12, valued at about $1,600, then walked to a clearance rack, removing 40 women`s dresses, all size 12, valued at $3,250.

Lt. Hill said transvestites generally do not steal clothes in the middle of the day, but he would not rule out the possibility.

Sheriff`s spokesman Bob Ferrell said the thieves may be stealing merchandise for themselves and selling the rest to other transvestites.

``I don`t imagine it`s easy for someone like that to walk in a woman`s clothing store and get waited on,`` Ferrell said.